Ephrata station explained

Ephrata, WA
Style:Amtrak
Address:24 Alder Street
Ephrata, Washington
Country:United States
Coordinates:47.3209°N -119.5494°W
Line:BNSF Columbia River Subdivision
Platform:1 side platform
Tracks:2
Parking:Yes
Rebuilt:1994
Owned:City of Ephrata
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Marker:rail
Mapframe-Zoom:14

Ephrata is a train station on Amtrak's Empire Builder line in Ephrata, Washington. The station and parking are owned by the city government, while the track and platforms are owned by BNSF Railway.[1] [2] Northwestern Trailways provides inter-city bus transportation next to the station while local transit is provided by the Grant Transit Authority.[3]

History

Passenger rail service to Ephrata began in 1893 with the arrival of the Great Northern Railway, particularly services like the Empire Builder and Western Star. Ephrata was the smallest town to be served by Great Northern's streamlined passenger trains through the mid-20th century.[4] After Amtrak took over the national passenger rail network in 1971, the Western Star was eliminated and the Empire Builder stopped serving Ephrata.[5] The loss of passenger rail service also affected postal deliveries to Ephrata, which were switched from trains to trucks.[6] Amtrak service to Ephrata began on June 11, 1973, with a routing change for the North Coast Hiawatha.[7] The trains stopped at an existing depot that served freight until December 1973.[8]

The Ephrata stop served few passengers and was slated for closure as part of cuts in 1977,[9] but was kept as an unstaffed station.[10] The North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued in 1979, ending passenger service to Ephrata and Wenatchee.[11] The Empire Builder returned to its original route in 1981, restoring passenger service to Ephrata.[12] [13] The existing Amtrak station was renovated and expanded to include a new multimodal transportation center and office space for the local chamber of commerce, re-opening on November 7, 1994.[14] [15]

Boardings and alightings

Year 2011[16] 2012[17] 2013[18] 2014[19] 2015[20] 2016[21] 2017[22] 2018 [23]
Total3,063 3,874 3,750 3,576 3,443 3,509 3,742 3,503
Difference- 811 -124 -174 -133 66 233 -239
Difference %- 26.48% -3.20% -4.64% -3.72% 1.92% 6.64% -6.39%

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Amtrak - Great American Stations . . April 23, 2009.
  2. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2008, State of Washington . Amtrak . October 2008 . November 29, 2007.
  3. Web site: Daily Trailways Service Schedule . . September 1, 2006 . February 4, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070123105032/http://www.northwesterntrailways.com/schedule.htm . January 23, 2007 . dead .
  4. News: Starmont . Leon . February 22, 1948 . Ephrata: Desert Oasis Now a Thriving Capital . 8 . . . January 5, 2020.
  5. News: May 6, 1971 . Goodbye To Some Old Friends . 1 . Grant County Journal.
  6. News: May 6, 1971 . Amtrak Causes Changes in Ephrata's Mail Service . 3 . . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  7. News: May 3, 1973 . Amtrak Plans Ephrata Stop This Summer . 5 . Spokane Chronicle . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  8. News: December 7, 1973 . Depot Shut . 5 . Spokane Chronicle . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  9. News: Allen . Rob . March 4, 1977 . Passenger trains to skip Ephrata . 1 . The Spokesman-Review . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  10. News: October 26, 1977 . Ephrata ticket sales to be halted . 6 . The Spokesman-Review . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  11. News: Gilmore . Susan . September 30, 1979 . Few would mourn last Amtrak train through Wenatchee . A22 . The Seattle Times.
  12. News: October 26, 1981 . Seattle-Spokane Amtrak route returns . C2 . The Seattle Times.
  13. News: Moody . Dick . May 5, 1983 . 'Train nut' got Amtrak to stop . 8 . The Spokesman-Review . Newspapers.com . January 4, 2020.
  14. News: November 4, 1994 . Basin transit center dedicated . 10 . The Wenatchee World.
  15. News: November 8, 1994 . Hundreds greet arrival of special train in Ephrata . 10 . The Wenatchee World.
  16. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2011: State of Washington . . November 2011 . 1 . January 6, 2015.
  17. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2012: State of Washington . . November 2012 . 1 . January 6, 2015.
  18. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2013: State of Washington . . November 2013 . 1 . January 6, 2015.
  19. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2014: State of Washington . . November 2014 . 1 . January 12, 2016.
  20. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2015: State of Washington . . November 2015 . 1 . January 12, 2016.
  21. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 20165, State of Washington. . November 2016 . January 17, 2017.
  22. Web site: Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2017, State of Washington. amtrak.com. Amtrak. Nov 2017. July 16, 2018.
  23. Web site: Fact sheet: Amtrak in Washington. Amtrak. 2018. June 18, 2019.